Christopher Thomas, a UCLA network engineer of 40 years, died of colon cancer on Dec. 29. He was 67.
Thomas developed the Bruin Online student email accounts and an operating model for UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute that allowed for more research specialists to make use of the institute’s network.
“Chris was like the father I never had,” said network engineer Justin Tea, who worked with Thomas since 2006 in UCLA’s Office of Information Technology.
Tea noted Thomas for his inner strength, which he said will be his boss’ greatest legacy.
“His first response to (his cancer diagnosis) was, “˜It is what it is,'” said Tea, a 1995 UCLA alumnus. “Many people might wilt in that circumstance, but not him.”
Known for being highly intellectual, Thomas would read books on any subject, including his disease, to further educate himself, said Carmela Cunningham, operations officer and director at the Office of Information Technology.
He was a fan of radio, flight simulators and astronomy, said John Pederson, the office’s system administrator.
According to Tea, Thomas once had such an informed conversation with a cancer specialist that he was mistaken for a doctor. Thomas also brought a rolling suitcase of laptops and cords to the hospital, eager to work as soon as he exited surgery, Tea said.
Thomas had a knack for staying ahead of the rapidly changing technology industry, said Jim Davis, vice provost of Information Technology. He designed a system that allowed sports teams to exchange game film through an online network instead of courier, winning the Innovations in Networking Award from the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California in 2008 for his work.
Patient and a good listener, Thomas was an eager mentor to young staff technologists, Davis said. His office was a welcome forum for discussions on technology, the economy and politics, Tea said.
Pederson said he would frequently banter with his colleague in the office, yet Thomas’s discussion style was never harsh. Pragmatism and an open mind were Thomas’s trademarks, Pederson said.
“Chris would be in a room when opinions got loud, and he’d act as the voice of reason,” Pederson said. “He had a calming personality.”
A UCLA alumnus, Thomas was also a diehard fan of the school’s football and basketball teams, Cunningham said.
“Chris once got to watch a game from one of those press boxes,” Tea said with a chuckle. “He talked about that for two straight weeks.”
Thomas is survived by his stepfather, Milton Stark, and cousin, Penelope Coates.
Contributions to the Chris Thomas Memorial Fund will assist the Institute for Digital Research and Education’s Research Scholar Program in hiring students to research with UCLA technologists.
A memorial service will be held Jan. 25 at 3 p.m. in room 11348 of UCLA’s Charles E. Young Research Library.